Day 29 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I had REALLY hoped we would be home by now so Miss Everlyn could trick-or-treat with her sister and brothers. Oh well - she will be SO ready next year!

Since we missed the festivities, Everlyn took it upon herself to "create" a costume out of the sheers in our apartment here. They are designed to separate the living area from the bedroom. She saw them and thought "Costume!"

Warning....the following pictures contain a scary amount of CUTE! You have been warned....

Day 28 - Are we there yet???

Yep...that's how I feel... "There" being HOME of course!

Today was pretty much like yesterday. My mom walked to McDonald's and got us lunch. I stayed at the apartment with a napping Princess. Again...glad someone is sleeping so well! :o)

Then we met up with other RR families at a German restaurant here in Kiev. The food was great and we had a private little room all to ourselves! Maybe they were being accommodating of our large group...or maybe they were trying to hide all of these rowdy Americans! LOL!

The street outside the restaurant was closed, there was live music and lots of LIGHTS. So, yes...I took pictures!

Tomorrow will be much the same. Groundhog Day....again. Monday we pick up her Visa and Tuesday is GO HOME DAY! We pretty excited that another family is on our first two flights with us. YAY!

Day 27 - A day of rest

Today we did NOTHING. Yep, nada. Ok, so yes we ate and played and napped. Well, Everlyn napped. With all of the excitement we've had, we figured she just needed a day to unwind. (Or maybe WE needed a day to unwind.)

We did walk to a nearby pizza place for lunch. As usual, ordering was fun. :o) They have an English menu, but don't speak English so lots of pointing and nodding...and praying when it arrives it is something close to what we wanted...and edible. It was perfect...AND GOOD.

We are hoping to maybe walk around a bit more tomorrow, depending on the weather. I would love to take Everlyn to a toy store several blocks from here. It is the one we went into when we were here in Kiev waiting to travel to her region to meet her. Oh the memories! LOL

Sorry - no new pics. (I know...total waste of a blog post, right?) I promise to give you a dose of adorable tomorrow.

Day 26 - Embassy appt, medical exam and meeting with friends

Today we took Everlyn to her Embassy appointment and applied for her Visa! Then "Uncle Nico" took us for her medical exam (required to issue the visa). All went well and we should pick up her Visa at 2pm Monday and fly out at 645am Tuesday morning! WOOHOO!!!!!

Then we came back to our apartment and decided to walk a block to McDonalds. :o) This girl LOVES her some french fries. Then back to the apartment for a much needed nap. Poor girl was so tired she fell asleep in the floor while playing. (For the record, I did not get a much needed nap.....)

Then, we arranged to meet a few other Reece's Rainbow families at the now infamous TGIFridays for dinner. It was so awesome to be able to chat with other families and of course, meet all of the CUTIES!!!!!

So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are just "free days"....too bad I couldn't spend those days AT HOME....but we are SO close. Finally! And now we know there are other awesome families here...that SPEAK ENGLISH! Bonus!

And I just want to say, I feel SOOOOOOO incredibly blessed by this little girl. She has been just amazing and I am grateful to be her mommy!

Day 25 - It's GOTCHA DAY!!!!

And we've GOT HER! :o)

I posted pics on Facebook but do not have time to copy them here or to "officially" blog right now. We decided to skip the overnight train b/c our driver (bless his heart) offered to drive us there by car which will take half the time. Costs a bit more but the train is so.....train-like! UGH!

I promise once we get to Kiev around bedtime (and I get sleeping beauty to bed), I will give details and make a "proper" GOTCHA DAY post!

Just wanted to let you all know....we have our girl!!!!!!

OK - here's ONE pic....playing one last time in the playroom floor while mom gathers the last bit of important papers.

Day 24 - Paperwork and a Passport

That's what we accomplished today. We completed all necessary paperwork and were able to get Everlyn a "red" (one-day) passport. YAY!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! That's right....it's GOTCHA DAY! I am so excited! :o) I will post pics as soon as I can - I promise!

We will be headed back to Kiev on the train tomorrow night. Then it's Embassy appointment and HOME...we could fly home Saturday, or it could be Tuesday, depending on what we can accomplish at the Embassy. But either way, it is SOON!

OK - for your viewing pleasure, here is the world's most adorable passport. No really....it does NOT get much cuter than this. I didn't even think we would get this today and was told not to worry about clothes for her today. But the opportunity arose to get this done so the baby home dressed her and a caregiver even went with us. Prepare yourself for insane cuteness....and yes, the passport number and birthdate have been blurred intentionally to protect her privacy....

Day 23 - THE WAIT IS OVER...sort of....

Yes folks, today was Day 10 of our 10-day waiting period! WE MADE IT! Yippeee!

But our "wait" is not entirely over. Tomorrow is a day of chasing papers....court decree, new birth certificate (with OUR names listed as her parents...brings about odd emotions honestly), closing her bank accounts (yes orphans have accounts here that the government makes periodic deposits to - this is donated back to the orphanage), something about a tax ID number and trying to get her passport. Some regions do "red" passports which are done the same day...other regions do "blue" passports which can take 4-5 days. YUCK! I am not entirely clear which "color" our region falls into to be honest. Purple maybe? :o)

With all this paper-chasing, I was told WEDNESDAY would be Gotcha Day! While I am SO excited, I am a little disappointed that I have to wait ONE MORE DAY. OK, so I am a lot disappointed, but what can do???? We are planning to take gifts for the Director and staff, fresh flowers, cookies and bananas for the kiddos as well as a large gift bag full of clothes/shoes to donate. It will be like a party! :o) I hope to get lots of cute pictures to share! And yes, her outfit is all ready to go! I can't wait to say goodbye to "Orphan Couture's" fall line....

With this delay (yes, one day is a delay to this travel-weary momma), instead of flying home Friday as I had hoped, it will likely be Tuesday at the earliest due to Embassy holidays and the weekend. Darn it.

So - that's about all I have tonight. Visits today were fun. I will add a few pics which will look a lot like yesterday's since she is sporting the same coat and hat....